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Toddler shreds family's £3000 life savings

A Chinese toddler who had a bit of a "thing" for tearing up books has ripped his parents' life savings to bits, after finding their stash of bank notes.

The 4-year-old boy, who hasn't been named, was left alone in his parents' bedroom in Shaanxi province, west China, and found the notes – said to be worth £3000 – in a box under the bed.

His parents allowed him to rip up books, so he didn't even think twice about ripping up the notes.

"We don't have much time for reading here," said his mother Liu Fan, "and we didn't really care when he ripped up the old books we had lying around, and it was easy to buy very cheap old books down the market which he happily ripped into small pieces.

“I thought if I left him alone with a book for an hour it would be no problem and we could hear the ripping sounds from the kitchen but didn't think anything of it.

"My family told me that it was not and I now realise they were right after he found all our money and ripped it up. It was all our savings."

The parents had been saving for a new apartment for the family, which they'd hoped to be able to buy this year.

Luckily for them, they have now found a bank which is willing to exchange the shredded notes for new ones. Phew!